NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday said that 48 coronavirus cases of ‘Delta Plus’ variant have been detected from 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of such cases at 20.
It said nine cases of Delta Plus variant were found in Tamil Nadu, seven cases in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Karnataka.
The Union government maintained that 90% of the Covid-19 cases in India are being driven by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant.
What is Delta plus variant?The variant, called “Delta Plus” in India, was first reported in a Public Health England bulletin.
The new Delta plus variant has been formed due to a mutation in the Delta or B.1.617.2 variant.
Delta Plus (AY.1).
The mutation is the result of the Delta variant acquiring the spike protein mutation K417N to form what is scientifically known as the AY.1 variant.
This mutation of Sars-CoV-2, which helps the virus enter and infect the human cells.
Experts believe Delta Plus has increased transmissibility but it is still not very clear as to how virulent this new strain is in comparison to other variants.
Where was it first found?The variant was first noticed in Europe in March, and has been under surveillance since, but has only come into public attention in June.
The Public Health England (PHE) report, published on 7 June, found 63 genomes of the Delta variant with the K417N mutation have been identified on the GISAID (a global science initiative that provides genomic data of influenza viruses).
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